I am a stay at home mom to five that is striving to teach her children that Jesus loves them and that He set the example for us on how to love others. I am not a theologian or a preacher...just a flawed little momma trying to grow her family in our Christian walk.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Prayer for Spiritual Growth

I thought I would start with this scripture today to kind of set the tone of what this blog is about. I have been searching for a devotion that I can do with my children...one we can share as a family that is brief and relevant to todays world and not to one extreme or the other...something my children ages 3-9 can all learn from and I've come up empty handed so here is my attempt at creating my own. I just want us to start our days with Christ and invite Him into our day. This is written from me to my children so that if you are a mother or father out there looking for a 'little bit of Jesus' you can just share the blog with them.

Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (NIV)

As your mommy, this prayer for spiritual growth that the Apostle Paul gave to the Ephesians, is my biggest hope for you. It is our goal as your parents that above all else, you know the love of Jesus. His dreams for you are bigger than your dreams for yourself. His love for you is greater than even the love Daddy and I have for you. As we like to say, it goes to the moon and back and wraps around the world... How big do you think His love for you is? (if your children are like mine you'll get a wide range of opinions and each answer will try to outdo the one before it)

The other thing that Paul wanted the Ephesians to know and that we want you to know is that Christ power is at work within us and when we call on that power, we can do way more than we could do on our own. He tells us that again in Phillipians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." That is why it is so important to us as a family to ask God to help us. Sometimes there are situations in life that seem too hard for us, maybe a friend says things that hurt us or your siblings or your parents are just getting on your nerves or your stressed out because of all your homework and the practice you have that evening. In those moments, just take a moment to ask God to be with you, to help you, to give you the words or to guide your steps or to help you be a leader.

[ (give a simple example as to a time that you tried to do something on your own and it didn't turn out so well and an example of when you let Him work through you or let your children share their own experience. I shared with my own children about a day that I let my temper get the best of me and lost patience with them and let them know that I didn't start my day with God and I cannot do it by myself and that everyday mommy depends on the strength of God to help her be the best mommy I can be. And that when Mommy took her trip to Africa it was very hard to see all of the struggles and poverty that I saw but that I could feel God with me each day as I asked HIM to be with me and to use me to love on the people of Nairobi and I was able to minister to people in a way that I couldn't on my own accord.) ]

Heavenly Father, be with my children today. Be with all of us and help us to feel to the tops of our heads and the tips of our toes your immense and awesome love for us. Help us to treat others with the same kind of love. Help us continue to start each day with you in our hearts so that we can better handle the situations life throws at us. Keep our family rooted in the center of your love. Thank you for loving us just like we are. Amen.